


A Different Lighting

by Chloe_Hallow_Eve



Series: Black Paladin Lance [15]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Black Paladin Lance (Voltron), Post-Season/Series 02 (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-07
Updated: 2017-05-07
Packaged: 2018-10-29 06:53:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10848729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chloe_Hallow_Eve/pseuds/Chloe_Hallow_Eve
Summary: Some aliens don't quite cooperate with Voltron. In fact, they are really, really into helping the Galra.Alternative Title: Lotor Finds Every Excuse To Talk To Lance





	A Different Lighting

Lance wasn’t so convinced that the people they were helping this time didn’t want to kill them. The distress beacon they had sent out hadn’t seemed that serious, saying they needed someone to go between them and the other people on their planet to discuss a peace treaty. The species of that planet apparently couldn’t see each other without wanting to attack. They were planning on building a wall between them, so there would be no more discord. Team Voltron had been sceptical, but had gone anyways. The mission itself went smoothly. It was after that put Lance on edge. 

 

Mostly because Hunk’s internal danger radar was going nuts, and he had learnt to trust that sense. It was in the way they whispered to themselves, how they glanced at the sky as if expecting something, in their fake reassurances that nothing was wrong. Lance almost declined the offer to stay for dinner, but Allura, ever the diplomat, wouldn’t have it. So they stayed, and ate the (admittedly very good) food, and made small talk. 

 

Halfway through the banquet, Galran ships started appearing. None of the natives looked alarmed. The first thing he should do was to usher his team to the lions, but the guards were blocking the door. They seemed to be waiting for the Galra. 

 

Lance knew this wasn’t the time. He still couldn’t resist saying, “Hunk so told us. He so told us, and I so told you.”

 

Allura glared at him. “You better have a plan to get us out of here to make up for that.”

 

Lance looked around, trying to see anything that would help, when he saw Keith move out of the corner of his eye. Before Lance could grab him, Keith had rushed towards the leader and put him in a chokehold. Lance rubbed his temples, sighing as Keith made his speech about how the natives needed to stand down if they didn’t want their leader to die. He was worried that this was going to become a regular occurrence. 

 

Nonetheless, the natives backed down, and they managed to run out of the building. Keith tossed the leader away from himself once they were far enough away. Lance called for them to run faster when he heard people following them. 

 

“We’re going in the opposite direction of the castle!” Pidge called, glancing over their shoulder.

 

“We can’t turn around! We’ll find a way to double back once things have calmed down!” Allura responded ahead of them. 

 

She was heading for the forest, a thick foliage of pastel plants. She barreled past the tree line, never breaking her stride. Lance veered and stopped to allow the others to pass him. Keith, Hunk and Pidge raced passed him in quick succession. Looking back at the soldiers chasing them, Lance was suddenly grateful for his height. The natives were small, and had been falling behind. Not seeing anything else that would put his team in immediate danger, besides the Galran ships that began landing, he sprinted after his team. 

 

* * *

“Well,” Lance panted, using a pale pink cross between a willow and maple as a support, “at least they didn’t think of cuffing us.”

 

“Yeah. That’s  _ real  _ assuring.” Pidge wheezed, hands on their knees. 

 

Hunk slowly sunk to the light purple grass, a hand over his mouth. “Ugh, eating and then running right after do not go well together.”

 

Allura placed a hand on Hunk’s back, slightly winded. “After a short break, we should continue. There’s no telling how quickly the Galra will move.”

 

Keith, in the same state as Lance, back to a blue bolder, shook his head. “We should find a place to camp out. Get a water supply. We might be out here for a while. We can talk strategy in that time.”

 

“Keith’s right. We don’t know how long we’ll be forced to survive out here, and we don’t have much. We need to pool resources.” Lance pushed off the tree. “But I do agree we should head further into the forest. Watching out for a creek or a lake or something should be top priority though.” 

 

Allura nodded. “Understandable.”

 

* * *

They had found water quickly. They only had to walk downhill to find a lake. The only problem was that the water was silver. It looked more like mercury than water. Pidge scanned it, and told them it would be safe to drink after it was sanitized. Lance still didn’t trust it. He glared at the liquid as Pidge scooped some up into their canteen. 

 

“We just need a fire, boil this, and we should be good.”

 

Allura approached. “Actually, there is no need. There is a small compartment in your suit compartment that contains water purification tablets. You only have to drop one or two in, depending on how much water you have, then wait for ten minutes. It’s quite efficient.”

 

Pidge looked up at her. “Oh, we have something similar back on Earth. But instead of ten minutes, we have to wait up to four hours.”

 

“That is quite the wait.”

 

“Yeah.” Pidge opened the compartment on their right arm, taking the box of purifiers out. “You guys have upgraded everything, and you were alive long before Earth ever managed to have technology. It’s pretty interesting.”

 

Allura huffed, a light smile on her face. “It makes me wonder how far we would have gotten if Zarkon hadn’t betrayed us.”

 

“A lot further along than probably everyone but the Olkari.” Hunk supplied, patting her back. 

 

“Most likely.” 

 

Keith, the farthest from the group, straightened. “Have we tried contacting Coran?”

 

The silence was answer enough. Allura groaned, dropping her face into her hands. Keith lifted a hand to his helmet and started messing with the settings. They had all closed the channels so they wouldn’t be distracted while talking to the natives, and forgot to turn them back on. After a moment, Keith began speaking. 

 

“Hey Coran, we- no, we’re safe. The princess is safe. Yes, we know… What? Did you seriously? Okay, just, make sure the castle is safe. We’ll double back to you when we can. I’m going to have to turn the coms off again. We don’t know if the Galra will be able to intercept it. Yeah. Yeah. Got it. Thanks, Coran. We’ll see you later.” He turned it back off. “The castle is in the town square where we left it. The Galra seem to be leaving it alone, but we should probably think of a game plan soon.”

 

Lance nodded. “After we gather supplies and create a temporary shelter. We should be prepared to stay the night out here.”

 

Hunk peered into Pidge’s canteen, face scrunching. “Hey, uh, are the tablets supposed to turn the water white?”

 

“And on that note, I’m going to go find some food.” Lance turned and began walking away. “If the water poisons you when you drink it, I’m pulling another ‘I told you so’.”

 

“You can try!” Allura called after him. 

 

Lance chuckled. His space family was the best family. 

 

* * *

In hindsight, Lance should have probably brought someone along with him. Then maybe he wouldn’t be in this situation. 

 

Lance glared at Lotor from over his gun. “How did you find me?”

 

Lotor, leaning against a tree, smiled. “You forgot to remove the tracking device.”

 

Lance cursed. Of course him and his team would forget something so important. “Then why didn’t you try to find us sooner?”

 

“Well, that would have been rude, now wouldn’t it? Besides, I much rather visiting you in person than in our ships.”

 

Lance’s fingers twitched. Lotor had been fairly well mannered when they talked. It was only when provoked that he would fight. And even then, he didn’t want to kill Lance. But Lotor could be acting as bait at this moment, and Lance didn’t really know Lotor all that well. He couldn’t let his guard down. 

 

“I came to ask some questions.”

 

Lance frowned. “I probably won’t answer.”

 

“Fair enough.” Lotor hummed, tapping his chin. “How about I sweeten the pot for you?”

 

Lance’s brows furrowed. “How?”

 

“How about if you answer a question for me, I’ll answer a question for you. Sound fair?”

 

Lance hesitated, then lowered his bayard. He didn’t put it away. “Only if I can still refuse to answer some.”

 

“Then you should allow me the same courtesy.”

 

Lance nodded. Lotor smiled, pushing off of the tree and sitting. He motioned for Lance to do the same. Lance sat across from him, far enough away that he could still shoot Lotor if he did anything suspicious. 

 

“I will go first.” Lotor took his cape off, placing it at his side. “What paladin were you before you were assigned to be the black paladin?”

 

Lance stared at him. After a few moments, he sighed. “Blue. Who rules the empire and hands out orders if not you?”

 

“Haggar.”

 

Lance’s brows lifted. “The head witch?”

 

Lotor ‘tsk’ed, shaking a finger. “My turn. How is your skin so perfect?”

 

Lance felt a smile tug at his lips. “I found some beauty products on the castle ship. They work really well for me. When did you join the fight?”

 

“A little while after my father’s demise. What is your bond to your lion like?”

 

“It’s…” Lance paused. “I don’t know how to explain it. It’s having someone be there for you at all times, in the back of your mind. The lions don’t always interfere with what we think or do, but they can. It’s really… profound. Kinda hard to try describing to someone who hasn’t experienced it.”

 

Lotor nodded. “As it is with most things.”

 

Lance felt his muscles slowly relaxing against his will. “My turn. Why do you fight for the Galra?”

 

Lotor raised an eyebrow. “They called me in, and-”

 

“No, no, like, you seem really unhappy with them. You wouldn’t be letting me talk to you if you weren’t lonely, or if you didn’t have some knowledge that what they’re doing is wrong. So, why are you fighting with them?”

 

Lotor dropped his gaze. His body language become defensive, hunching slightly inwards. His hand absently ripped out pieces of grass. “Well, there are a great many reasons. Maybe you’ll come to learn of them in time. But one of them is…” Lotor looked to the sky. “On my home planet, and a couple others which Galra have colonized, we aren’t much different than the rest of the galaxy.”

 

Lance leaned forward, eyes wide. “Wait, are you saying that there are Galrans who  _ aren’t _ fighting machines?”

 

“You’re quite impatient, aren’t you?” Lotor mused, but smiled, his gaze drifting down to meet his. “But no. Most of our population consists of ordinary, peaceful people. They are unaware of the fate of the universe, and of what the army is truly like. I’d bet they have no clue that Zarkon is gone, let alone that he was cruel and merciless.”

 

Lance leaned back, placing a hand on the ground. He deactivated his bayard, but kept it in his other hand. “Wow. That’s, wow.” Lance shouldn’t be surprised by this, but he was. “Wait, what does that have to do with you joining the army?”

 

Lotor chuckled. “I believe you are clever enough to figure that out.” He stood, dusting himself off. “I should part. Until we meet again, Lance.”

 

Lance stumbled to standing. “Wait, bro, you can’t just leave me hanging!”

 

“I believe I just did.” He bent to retrieve his cape, shaking it out. “We will talk again, not to worry.”

 

“Wait, one more question!” Lance waited for Lotor to pause before continuing. “Galran battleships have been waiting until we’re away from planets to fight. They don’t shoot the planet we helped anymore. It was weird, but I think….. Are you responsible for that?”

 

Lotor smiled at him. “I will see you soon.”

 

Lance watched Lotor leave, more questions forming in his brain. He wanted to ask Lotor them all, but he might be pushing it. After all, how many times could he catch the prince in a forgiving mood? 

 

As Lance turned to head back to his team, he reached between the bends in his armour and pulled out a crumb sized tracker. He dropped it and left. 

 

* * *

When Lance returned, foodless, he made some excuse that he couldn’t find anything edible. He knew it was a bad idea, but he didn’t want to make any decisions about Lotor until he had more information. If that meant meeting up with the enemy occasionally, so be it. Although, Lance was surprised Lotor was able to be constantly reassigned to the paladins whereabouts when he had failed to capture them. His status as ‘prince’ probably had some sway in the ranks. 

 

After gathering more water (which turned out to not be poisonous, but Lance still wasn’t drinking any of it), his team snuck back towards the town. They were hoping to use the cover of darkness as their ally. This planet had three suns, but no moons. The nights were much darker than they were back on Earth. Allura informed them of the night vision setting on their visors (Lance made Allura promise to give them a quick rundown of all their suits features when they got back, because this was getting ridiculous), giving them an upper hand on their mission. 

 

Instead of the small, yellow native soldiers who used to be placed around the town, there were Galran sodliers. Lance ducked behind a tree, whispering to the others.

 

“We should work our way around the edges. I don’t think we can afford to get caught and be swarmed.”

 

“The castles in the centre square. There’s no possible ‘outer route’ we can take.” Allura argued. “If we can get even one of us to the castle, they can bring a lion back and pick us up.”

 

Lance sighed. “Alright. Alright. Everyone, turn your coms on. Pidge, you’re lion has invisibility. You’d be our best option.”

 

Pidge nodded, then darted away. 

 

“Keith, Allura, try getting closer. If Pidge needs backup, you two will be the first on the scene. Hunk, hang back. Your weapon is long range, make sure to use it to the best of your abilities if needed. I’m going to try getting on top of one of the buildings. My weapons more sniper-based. Everyone understand?”

 

They nodded. 

 

“Good. I’ll see you soon.”

 

Lance peeked out from behind the tree, waited for the guard to look away, then dashed to the nearest building. He quickly climbed onto the window sill, using it to hoist himself up to the next one. For such small creatures, they really did like making tall buildings. Lance huffed, using his jetpack to get the rest of the way up. 

 

From up here, he could see Pidge darting between houses, keeping to the shadows. Lance felt pride swell up in him. He knew focusing on Pidge’s stealth was the right call. 

 

He sat on the edge of the building, watching the green paladin. It was time to play the waiting game. Although, if Pidge’s speed was anything to go off, he wouldn’t be playing long. 

 

Someone cleared their throat behind Lance. He rolled around, bayard active and pointed, and he almost shot before he realised it was Lotor. Lance let out his breath, tapping his coms to turn it off. “Lotor, what the quiznak, I almost shot you!”

 

Lotor smiled innocently. “I thought I recognised your vague shape in the distance. I came to say hello.”

 

“We saw each other a couple vargas ago, Lotor.”

 

“And what long vargas they have been.” Lotor walked over and sat next to Lance. “You know, the closer to the edge you are, the easier it will be for the soldiers to spot you.”

 

Lance waved him off, settling back into his previous position. “They never look up, trust me.”

 

Lotor chuckled. They sat in silence for awhile, eyes moving over the landscape. Lance tried to follow Pidge, but sometimes they would disappear from his sight, and he’d turn his gaze to the stars. They were completely different once again. Lance wondered if they would stay in one place long enough to learn the constellations. To try to make the universe seem smaller. 

 

Lance was hit by a wave of homesickness and loneliness. He wanted to go home so badly. Lance was grateful to have Lotor next to him right then, because otherwise, the loneliness might have overcome him. 

 

Lance wondered if Lotor missed his home. He had spoken of Galra with fondness. Did he have family there? Friends? Had he been torn away from his life without any warning, just as Lance had been? 

 

Lance turned his gaze to the castle in the town square. It was the most heavily guarded section of the town. “Hey, Lotor?”

 

Lotor hummed questioningly. 

 

“Are you lonely?”

 

There was no immediate reply. Lance felt a gust of air, and saw a part of the sky warble. Pidge had succeeded in entering the castle and flying Green out to the forest. 

 

“Extremely.”

 

* * *

Lance met up with his team, hopped into Green, and they flew back to the castle. Once they were all inside, Allura and Coran left the planet as quickly as they could. Once they were safe, Lance waved everyone to the showers, then to bed. He waited until he was sure everyone would sleep to go do so himself. 

 

After a cold shower and his face care routine, Lance flopped bonelessly into bed. He sighed, rolling over. He was still unsure about Lotor. It could all be a trap. But his gut wasn’t telling him anything was wrong, so he was inclined to believe he wasn’t in danger. 

 

Okay, so Lotor had almost killed him that one time, but Lance was almost sure that Lotor wouldn’t have gone through with it. Besides, he had been civil, even pleasing, today. Maybe he had been having a bad day that one time. 

 

He stared at the ceiling, thinking of how Lotor had described the common masses. He must really care for them. So why wasn’t he telling his people the truth? Why wasn’t he revealing all of Zarkons dark secrets, and turning them against the army? 

 

Oh. Oh, it would put them in danger. If the Galran army was willing to destroy any planet they came to that opposed them, why wouldn’t they be willing to destroy their own planet if it started rebelling?

 

Lance sat up quickly. He couldn’t sleep yet. Lance stumbled off of his bed, detangling from the sheets as he went, and raced out the door. He quickly went to the main controls, pulling up all they had on Galran history. If what Lotor said was true, and the planet Galra was innocent in all of this, then he would have to learn as much as he could in order to help the prince. 

  
Lance realised this must also be why the Blade worked from the shadows. He hastened his search. 

**Author's Note:**

> I love writing Lotor. His character makes me happy. 
> 
> I'm sorry if this seems rushed, I was going to update a completely different part of the series, but it's not ready. It'll take a while to be ready, probably. I hope you still enjoy! 
> 
> Off topic, there is this really well done Voltron fanfiction called 'Let's Get This Show On The Road' by bingbong21 that is a series of oneshots. It's an AU where the team is in the music industry, and it kind of plays out like Japanese or Korean pop bands. I've really been enjoying it, and I feel like more people should too! 
> 
> Anywho. I am amazed every time with how many people enjoy my updates. Thank you all so much for everything! It really means a lot. 
> 
> Stay amazing, I love you all, and I will see you Wednesday! Bye bye~!!!


End file.
